INTROSPECTIVE

Chapter 3

Louis pushed his body forward and hit the ground sprinting.He was determined to burn every molecule of carbohydrates in his body,threaten his lungs to work beyond their very capacity.He wanted to burn himself out.Exhaust himself to the point of collapsing.Anything to numb his mind.Disappear from consciousness for at least a while.He was working hard to stifle down the torments his mind kept consuming him with.And at that moment,he truly felt like consciousness was overrated.

Despite his efforts, his demons relentlessly kept manifesting themselves,smiling malevolently,hindering his futile attempts to escape them with their whisperings.

"I know what you did,"they tormented.

"How could you?"another voice said.

Why?

Louis shook his head willing the whispering to stop.His head felt weighed down with anxiety.A cold sweat broke out on his skin as the words kept reminding him of the most painful moment in his life.

His chest was paining now as his lungs struggled to expand.

I hate you.

He closed his eyes as he doubled his speed as well as his efforts to suppress the memories.

But the voice kept ringing over and over again in his head,getting louder.More frantic.

I hate you.

I hate you.

I hate you!

A cry of anguish escaped his throat.His thoughts getting the best of him as he was no longer able to suppress the bad memories.His will had crumbled and collapsed like a feeble wall yielding to a great force of nature.

He slowed his pace and opened his eyes in defeat.

He was just about to allow himself to wallow in self-pity when a blinding light assaulted his eyes.He had no time to register where the light was coming from as he felt himself being swept off his feet and being thrown into the cold night air before harshly landing on the ground.

He lay there for a few seconds stunned by what had just happened to him.Then an excruciating pain crawled up his leg and he let out a groan.

"Argghh"

He stretched out his hand to find the area of pain on his body.

He first heard the clucking of heels against the asphalt before a pair of long legs appeared before him.

"Are...are you okay?"

Louis looked up at the owner of the shaky voice.Of course he wasn't.He was just about to tell her that that was a stupid question to ask when a dizzy spell took over him at that precise moment.

A look of concern crossed the girl's large eyes as she knelt on the road to have a look at the area Louis was clutching.She removed his hands gently and examined his ankle.The look of concern developed to a look of anguish as her fingers gently pressed on his ankle.

"Scheise,she exclaimed,"your ankle is really swollen.Let me take you to a hospital."For a moment Louis was distracted from the throbbing in his head by the first word she had said to him.

The girl moved her hands and immediately stood up.Seeing the look of agony on his face,she shook her head,her short purple braids swaying with the movement."You need to let me take you to a hospital, please."

Louis noted the slight tone of exhaustion and desperation in her tone and looked down at his foot.
The swelling was getting worse and he felt a constant throbbing at the back of his head.Wincing,he put his fingers on his head and felt a warm thick substance.Blood? Splotches of black filled his vision before he fell back to the ground with one thought in mind.

Consciousness is overrated.

Oh.Scheise is a German curse word for Sh*t.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter.Comment,vote,critique.Anything will be much appreciated.